UK Inquiry Tracker

Public charge points for electric vehicles

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 29 Nov 2024 Closed: 16 May 2025 Parliament page

The UK’s domestic transport sector was responsible for almost 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. To combat this, the Government has a manifesto commitment to end the sale on new combustion-only (petrol or diesel) vehicles by 2030. To support this transition, an estimated 300,000 Electric Vehicle (EV) public charging … Read more The UK’s domestic transport sector was responsible for almost 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. To combat this, the Government has a manifesto commitment to end the sale on new combustion-only (petrol or diesel) vehicles by 2030. To support this transition, an estimated 300,000 Electric Vehicle (EV) public charging points will need to be installed in the same time frame. The National Audit Office (NAO) recently launched an investigation into how successful the Government has been in identifying and mitigating the challenges likely to impede a successful rollout of charging infrastructure. They will also be examining if the Department for Transport (DfT) is likely to achieve value for money in the rollout. In 2021, the Committee reported on the challenges likely to prevent the Government from reaching its target of phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035. The Committee did not believe that the Government had a sufficient strategy to ensure all EV owners would have easy access to charging points, particularly those without access to off-street parking. Following the Committee’s report, the Department for Transport released their UK electric vehicle infrastructure strategy which outlined their strategy to address this issue. Based on the NAO’s work, the Committee will take evidence from senior officials from the Department for Transport, with likely focuses including: If the Department has a strategy to address the geographical disparities in the availability of EV charging points; If sufficient funds are available to support local authorities to install public charging stations and; The accessibility of public charging infrastructure Please note the Committee is unable to help with individual cases. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. The deadline date for submitting evidence will be updated on this page once confirmed. Show less

5 Recommendations

26 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

3 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 7 events

4 Sep
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to the updated response on the Treasury Minute response on the…

1 Jul
2025

Correspondence

Letter to the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to the Treasury Minute Response on PAC's 14th Report of …

16 May
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fourteenth report from Session 2024-25

12 Mar
2025

Report published

14th Report - Public charge points for electric vehicles

11 Feb
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Second Permanent Secretary for the Department for Transport relating to the oral evidence session held on 20 January 2025, …

20 Jan
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

20 Jan
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

20 Jan 2025

View on parliament.uk

Jo Shanmugalingam · Department for Transport Nick Shaw · Office for Zero Emission Vehicles Richard Bruce CBE · Office for Zero Emission Vehicles Directorate

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
14th Report - Public charge points for electric vehicles	HC 512	12 Mar 2025	31	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results

13 Conclusion Deferred

14th Report - Public charge points…

Ultra-rapid charge points on strategic roads crucial for motorist confidence and range anxiety

Public ultra–rapid charge points across along motorways and major A–roads (collectively known as the strategic road network) are necessary to address “range anxiety” amongst motorists. Motorway service areas in particular act like the “shop window” for providing confidence to drivers … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation regarding the necessity of ultra-rapid charge points on the strategic road network. They will provide an update in September 2025 on rollout progress, gaps, and next steps to address these.

HM Treasury

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14 Conclusion Deferred

14th Report - Public charge points…

Motorway ultra-rapid charge point targets missed due to optimistic planning and grid connection issues

The Department had an ambition that operators would install six ultra rapid charge points at every motorway service area by the end of 2023. However, only around half installed that many charge points by that time, and by January 2025 … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation regarding the slow rollout of ultra-rapid charge points and acknowledges the challenges. They will provide an update to the Committee in September 2025, outlining work to understand provision gaps and next steps to address them.

HM Treasury

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15 Conclusion Deferred

14th Report - Public charge points…

Current ultra-rapid charge point benchmark insufficient for future demand and power capacity

The Department stated that there was not necessarily a very scientific underpinning for using six ultra–rapid charge points as its benchmark today, however, meeting charge point demand in the longer term might require much more than this, and in July … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation regarding the benchmark for charge points and power capacity. They will provide an update to the Committee in September 2025 on the rollout of ultra-rapid chargepoints, including understanding provision gaps and outlining next steps.

HM Treasury

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16 Conclusion Deferred

14th Report - Public charge points…

Significant distribution gaps persist for ultra-rapid charge points on major A-roads

The number of ultra rapid charge points installed within one mile of the wider strategic road network has exceeded the Department’s expectations, with 2,377 installed by July 2024, against a target of 2,500 by 2030.27 However, distribution remains a problem; … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the committee's observation and commits to providing an update in September 2025 on the rollout of ultra-rapid chargepoints, including work undertaken to understand existing distribution gaps and outlining next steps to address them.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 31 of 5 classified

Accepted 19

Accepted in Part 1

Acknowledged 4

Deferred 4

Not Addressed 3

Total 5 recs + 26 conclusions

Correspondence 3 letters

4 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to the updated response on the Treasury Minute response on the 14th Report of Session 2024-25, Public charge points for electric vehicles, 14 July 2025

Parliament page

1 Jul 2025 From committee Letter to the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to the Treasury Minute Response on PAC's 14th Report of Session 2024-25, Public charge points for electric vehicles, 30 June 2025

Parliament page

11 Feb 2025 To committee Letter from the Second Permanent Secretary for the Department for Transport relating to the oral evidence session held on 20 January 2025, follow up on potential fire risk of electric vehicles, 31 January 2025

Parliament page